Mai & Maxime

Traditional Vietnamese family cooking is, at its core, incredibly healthy. Vegetables are bountiful and delicious in Vietnam, and hence are incorporated into the majority of dishes. Poaching and steaming are also commonly used methods of cooking because they allow the flavors of the ingredients to be the stars of the show.

These cabbage rolls are a great example. Simple and light, yet still delicious and filling. Like many other cultures, we have found that cabbage leaves make the perfect wrapper. The natural sweetness from the cabbage balances with the savory filling. No crazy techniques or heavy sauces that overpower, you can really taste every single ingredient in this dish.

These rolls can easily be made vegan by using your meat alternative of choice (or more mushrooms) and replacing fish sauce with soy sauce or vegan fish sauce!

Just like with nem rán, every family makes their own variation of this dish. The meat is almost always pork, but other ingredients in the filling can vary. Some people add tomatoes to their sauce, making it similar to cà chua nhồi thịt or đậu phụ nhồi thịt, while some add a lot more water and turn it into a soup.

No matter the variation, this dish still hits the spot. This is my family’s version, from out kitchen to yours!

Tip: if you buy a big bundle of garlic chives for this dish, make an amazing garlic chive soup with the rest!

INGREDIENTS FOR BẮP CẢI CUỘN THỊT

• Green cabbage – Bắp cải xanh: Green cabbage leaves are sweet and thick, making them perfect for this dish. If for some reason you need an alternative, napa cabbage would work: it has less natural sweetness but are easier to work with.
• Garlic chives – Hẹ: Used in this dish mainly to tie up the rolls, but they do add a lovely light onion-y flavor.
• Ground pork – Thịt heo bằm/xay: For this dish and others with a pork-based filling, I like choosing ground pork that is not too lean.
• Wood-ear mushrooms – Nấm mộc nhĩ/nấm tai mèo: They don’t bring too much in terms of flavors, but texturally, they are irreplaceable. Crunchy and a bit chewy, wood-ear mushrooms add textural interest, especially to a meaty filling, which is why the trio of wood-ear, shiitake, and minced pork is such a common filling found in many dishes. For recipes with wood-ear mushrooms, click HERE.
• Shiitake mushrooms – Nấm đông cô/nấm hương: These incredibly fragrant mushrooms are a staple in Vietnamese cuisine. Commonly paired with wood-ear mushrooms, this dynamic duo is in more Vietnamese dishes than I can count. For recipes with shiitake mushrooms, click HERE.
• Carrot – Cà rốt
• Shallot – Hành khô/Hành tím
• Ginger – Gừng
• Fish sauce – Nước mắm: arguably the most important seasoning sauce in Vietnamese cuisine. Made from fermented anchovies, it is salty and incredibly umami. Non-vegan Vietnamese recipes without fish sauce are very rare. The best nước mắm comes from Phú Quốc or surrounding islands off the coast- Southwest of mainland Vietnam. Our favorite brand available outside of Vietnam is Red Boat (U.S.).
• Bouillon – Hạt nêm: think broth, but in solid form. Bouillon is an amazingly easy way to bring that umami flavor to your food. We use it instead of salt in many of our dishes. You can usually find chicken, pork, or mushroom bouillon. In Vietnam, Knorr is the most common brand. However, we have only been able to find Knorr in powder form in the US and France, not granules. Instead, we use Totole brand chicken or mushroom bouillon. The quantities on our website are based on the granule-type so if you use powder, adjust to your taste.
• Ground black pepper – Tiêu đen xay

DIRECTIONS FOR BẮP CẢI CUỘN THỊT

1. Add the wood-ear and shiitake mushrooms to a heat-proof bowl and add boiling water. Set aside to rehydrate.
2. Separate each lettuce leaf from the head, being careful to rip them as little as possible.
   If you are making enough rolls to use up the entire cabbage, you can cut out the core and boil the entire head, then separating the leaves afterwards.
3. Cut to separate the dark green leaves from the light green stems/bulbs of the garlic chives. Select only the long mature blades for tying up the rolls and set those aside.
   Finely chop up the stems and smaller blades and set aside.
4. Add the water from the Broth section to a pot and bring to boil.
5. Add one or two cabbage leaves at a time, blanch for 1 minute and remove to a bowl or strainer. Continue with the rest of the leaves. Let cool.
6. Blanch the mature chive leaves from Step 3 in the same pot of water for 30 seconds, then remove and let cool.
7. Reserve the water for later.
8. Peel and julienne carrots.
9. Mince shallots.
10. Strain, rinse, then finely chop wood-ear and shiitake mushrooms.
11. Rinse, then cut ginger into thick slices. No need to remove the skin, we are using it to add flavor to the broth.
12. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients in the Filling section along with the chopped chives and mix well to combine.
13. Use a paring knife to trim the thick spines of the cabbage leaves. This will help make them easier to roll.
14. To make a roll: take a piece of cabbage leaf and place the stem end away from you.
15. Add 2-3 tbsps of filling, depending on the size of the leaf, about 3 cm away from the bottom corner closest to you, fold in the two sides, fold up the bottom flap, and roll tightly towards the stem (see video). You can cut off some of the stem end if there is too much.
16. Take a blade of chive, wrap it around the roll, and make a knot. Repeat with the rest.
17. Once the rolls are done, add them to a pot and pour in the reserved water from Step 7, along with the sliced ginger.
18. Season with fish sauce and bouillon- quantities in the Broth section, or to taste.
19. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium (5/10) and simmer for 15 minutes.
20. Remove rolls to plate, pour the broth over them, and enjoy with rice or by themselves!

RECIPE VIDEO

Bắp cải cuộn thịt • Vietnamese pork cabbage rolls

Course: Mains, VietnameseCuisine: VietnameseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

3

servings

Prep time

35

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

50

minutes

Healthy and simple but flavorful, these cabbage rolls are filled with minced pork and mushrooms, then cooked in a light broth.

Ingredients

• 12 12 cabbage leaves (+/- depending on the size)

• 4 4 stems of garlic chives (see Notes)

• Filling

• 250 g 250 ground pork

• 50 g 50 carrot

• 10 g 10 wood-ear mushrooms (dry)

• 10 g 10 shiitake mushrooms (dry)

• 30 g 30 shallots

• 1 tbsp 1 fish sauce

• 1 tsp 1 bouillon

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 black pepper

• Broth

• 500 ml 500 water

• 1 1 small knob of ginger (about 2-3 cm)

• 1 tbsp 1 fish sauce (or to taste)

• 1 tsp 1 bouillon (or to taste)

Directions

• Add the woodear and shiitake mushrooms to a heat-proof bowl and add boiling water. Set aside to rehydrate.
• Separate each lettuce leaf from the head, being careful to rip them as little as possible.
  NOTE: if you are making enough rolls to use up the entire cabbage, you can cut out the core and boil the entire head, then separating the leaves afterwards.
• Cut to separate the dark green leaves from the light green stems/bulbs of the garlic chives. Select only the long mature blades for tying up the rolls and set those aside.
  Finely chop up the stems and smaller blades and set aside.
• Add the water from the Broth section to a pot and bring to boil.
• Add one or two cabbage leaves at a time, blanch for 1 minute and remove to a bowl or strainer. Continue with the rest of the leaves. Let cool.
• Blanch the mature chive leaves from Step 3 in the same pot of water for 30 seconds, then remove and let cool.
• Reserve the water for later.
• Peel and julienne carrots.
• Mince shallots.
• Strain, rinse, then finely chop wood-ear and shiitake mushrooms.
• Rinse, then cut ginger into thick slices. No need to remove the skin, we are using it to add flavor to the broth.
• In a large bowl, add all the ingredients in the Filling section along with the chopped chives and mix well to combine.
• Use a paring knife to trim the thick spines of the cabbage leaves. This will help make them easier to roll.
• To make a roll: take a piece of cabbage leaf and place the stem end away from you.
• Add 2-3 tbsps of filling, depending on the size of the leaf, about 3 cm away from the bottom corner closest to you, fold in the two sides, fold up the bottom flap, and roll tightly towards the stem (see video). You can cut off some of the stem end if there is too much.
• Take a blade of chive, wrap it around the roll, and make a knot. Repeat with the rest.
• Once the rolls are done, add them to a pot and pour in the reserved water from Step 7, along with the sliced ginger.
• Season with fish sauce and bouillon- quantities in the Broth section, or to taste.
• Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium (5/10) and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove rolls to plate, pour the broth over them, and enjoy with rice or by themselves!

Recipe Video

Notes

• Garlic chives: You will need the same number of chive leaves/blades as the number of rolls you make, one for each roll. When you buy garlic chives, they will usually come in stems (like green onions)- each stem having 4-6 blades of varying sizes. You want to select only the long mature blades because they’re sturdier. You will likely end up taking the mature blades from 4-5 stems. The light green bulbs/stems and smaller leaves can be chopped up and added to the filling.

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